Thread holder for weft replenishing looms



Dec. 26, 1944. w. H. WAKEFIELD 2,365,666

THREAD HOLDER FOR WEFT REPLENISHING LOOMS Filed April 21, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 26,

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 "flliii w. H. WAKEFIELD 2,365,666

THREAD HOLDER FOR WEFT REPLENISHING LOOMS Filed April 21, 1944 ness of the weft ends occurs.

Patented Dec. 26, 1944 NITED," 51139:!as PATENT OFFICE THREAD HOLDER roe war'r' REPLENISH- v ING LOOMS Waiterfl. Wakefield, Worcester, Mass.,.assignor to Qrompton- =& Knowles Loom Works, Worcester, ;Mass., acorporation of Massachusetts I Application- April 21, 1944,'Ser i'a1l-No. 5323093 14- Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in thread holder mechanism for the weft emisor reserve bobbins in weft replenishing looms and it is the general obiiect of the invention to provide driving means which causes the thread holder mechanism to operate continuously and at a rate more-or less proportional to the frequency with-whichrepl'enishing operations occur in the loom.

- In .weft replenishing looms more particularly ofthe multicolor-type the reservebobbins are held in stacks or guide ways-downwhich they move toward -a eommon transfer position. "The bobbi'nsdescend in-a; vertical path but theirweft ends extend diagonally to the'thread holder, and at each descent of bobbins in a stack some slack- It is desirable that this slackness be taken np'sothat theweft ends may be kept out of the "path of" the lay.

The rate at which the thread holder should tendto take up-slackness in the weft ends bears a close relation to the frequency with which slacknesswoccurs-in the'weit ends due to replenishing operations of the loom. The take up roll of the cm alsohas a movement the rate of which isclosely "-relhted-tothefrequency of transfor and is -an important object of my present invention" to provide driving connections between the take-up roll a-ndi the" thread holder mechanism. 1 The relation between the take-up roll and the frequency of 'transfer'will be ap arent from a consideration of th'e sizes of yarns which are used as weft in theloom; If the-weft is"c0arse' so-that the fabric beingwoven has only "picks' per inch, for instance, a comparatively small number of; picks-only can be wound'on the bobbins and the rate oftransfer willbehigh- Unden-these conditionsthe take-u-p roll is adjusted so that it moves witha relatively rapid rate in order to: take up the cloth. on the other hand; if the. wettiis fine-and the fabric being woven has for instancenfiu pioks' per inch, more picks of deft can be WOUIiliOII the bobbins-and there will be a lowered rate in the replenishing op= erations of the loom; Under these latter conditions thetake-uprcili drivingmechanism will be. set to: .drive the -7rol=1 much more-slowly than in the first condition mentioned. It is apparent therefore that the. rate at which the take un roll turns is closely related to the rate at which transfer operations; occur. in the loom;

It is another objectof my present invention to providea flexible shaft which operatively con-s members between which the weft ends extend.

TI'l-ie flexible shaft preferably extends through nects the take-nphroll to :gearedthreaduholder 6'5 and is supported-on the bobbin magazine in such position as not to interfere with the transferrer armor the descent of bobbins intheir stacks.

another objector my present invention to provid e a, train of driving connections between'thetake-up roll andthe gear-sci the thread holder constructed *to include change gear devices which, in any given setting, will establish proper relativerates between the take-up roll and the thread gears for the particular fabric being woven.

the bobbins await transfer they tend to turnon their axes and cause slacknessin their weft "ends. 'It is aiu r-therobject of my inventio motcnl y to drive thethread holder mechaat a rate proportional to the replenishing rate; but also-drive it-oontinuously during loom operation to take-up the slachnessresulting fromrota'tiorr ot the-bobbing With these and other objects in view which will appear :as' the description proceeds, my invention-resides in the-combination and arrangement of pants.hereinatter-described "and set forth;

.Imthe accompanyi-ng drawings, wherein -a conveni'ent embodiment of my invention is set forth,

1. is a' Mont elevation of the-weft replenishing end of a'loom having my improved-thread holder mechanism applied thereto,

Z -isa plan view looking'in the direction ofnarrow time, 1,- 1 I Figeiiiis anuenlarged end -elevation of the thread holder flocking intheoirection of arrow 3, Fig. 1, with the .guard plate zpartly removed, and showing'theinterior'of the casi-ng or housing on which the thIEaid gears are mounted,

Fig. 4 i's a verticalzsectionon line--4,4 of Fig. 3,

' :Eig..;5 :is anenlange'd detail end elevation look-- ingin thexdirection ofarrow-'5', Fig. 4-,

Fig. 6 is an enlarged vertical section of a portion .otFig. 4 showing the connection between thesfiexible :shait an'd the shaftof the driven thread: engaging. gear;

.Figzs'l iswan enlarged. plan-view of one end of the take-up roll :and the parts of my invention adjacent thereto, iElig. 18 i's -a -sid'e view 'lo'o -'ng in the direction of arrow 8, Fig. 7 the' breast beam' being in section, 6 6

- i'Fig..9 -is:a vertica1 section on line "91- 9, Fig. 7,

Figs: 10: and 11 show a fabric and a bobbin, respectively, with-coarse weft,

l'Fig's. 12 and 'l3 aresimilartoi igs. 1 0 and I1- except that the weft is fine,

Fig. 14 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevation looking in the direction of arrow M, Fig. l, and

Fig. 15 is an enlarged front elevation of the supporting arm for the flexible shaft projecting from the magazine toward the thread holder.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, I have shown the loom frame ll] of a weft replenishing loom and a lay reciprocating backwardly and forwardly during loom operation and supporting a shuttle S which is propelled by picking mechanism designated generally at |2. A bobbin magazine M is held in stationary position over the lay and is provided with several stacks of reserve bobbins B. As shown in Fig. 2, four stacks of these bobbins are employed but my invention is not necessarily limited to their number of stacks i the magazine. Extending from the bobbins are weft ends W which lead downwardly and outwardly from the magazine to a thread holder mechanism designated generally at H.

This thread holder includes in its construction front and back geared members l5 and I6, respectively, mounted on a casing or support H in such position that the weft ends may be drawn downwardly between said geared members. An arm l8 secured in any approved manner to the magazine extends diagonally downwardly behind the latter to holdthe support I! as at I9.

A take-up roll 2|! is mounted in the forward part of the loom and is driven by mechanism not shown but well understood and located at that end of the loom opposite the end shown in Fig, 1. In Figs. 1, 2, 7 and8 there is shown one of the bearings or supports 2| for the take-up roll secured to the breast beam 22 of the loom and provided with a cap 23 which forms part of the bearing which receives gudgeon 24 projecting from the roll 20.

During loom operation the roll 20 is moved in the direction of arrow 11, Fig. 8, to take up the fabric F as the latter is formed at the fell of the cloth. As weaving continues the running weft will become depleted from time to time and will be replenished by bobbins drawn from the magazine. At each replenishing operation one of the bobbins will descend to a position under transferrer arm 21 for insertion into shuttle S. At this time a certain amount of slackness in the bobbins of the stack from which the transferred bobbin is drawn will result due to the fact that the bobbins descend vertically but their weft ends extend diagonally toward the thread holder H. This slackness should be taken up in order to keep the weft ends taut as shown in Fig. 1 and above the path of the lay II, and it is the general purpose of my present invention to provide driving connections between the take-up roll 20 and the. geared members i5 and I6.

The matter thus far described is of common construction and may be made according to common practice, the geared members [5 and I6 if desired being similar to those shown for instance in patent to Payne No. 1,842,731.

In carrying my present invention into effect I employ a train of driving connections between the take-up roll and one of the thread gears of the thread holder. This train includes a flexible shaft having a sheath 3| and a core 32 rotatable within the sheath. Asshown more particularly in Figs. 7 and 8 I provide a gear 35 located alongside the bearing 2| and held tightly to the gudgeon 24 by a screw 36 tapped into said gudgeon. In this manner the gear 35 is caused to turn with the take-up roll in the direction of arrow a, Fig. 8. A carrier arm 31 hasthe lower end thereof held to the bearing support 2| by a pivot screw 38 tapped into bearing 2|, while the upper end of the carrier is formed with a slot 39 and has extending therethrough a screw 40 also tapped into the takeup bearing member. The screw 38 serves as a pivot when both screws are loosened so that the carrier can move to different angular positions at varying distances from the gear 35, but when both screws are tightened the carrier is held in fixed position relatively to the loom frame.

The carrier is provided with a bearing 4| in which rotates a stub shaft 42, the right end of which, see Fig. 9, projects beyond the right end of bearing 4| and is secured to the core 32 of the flexible shaft in any approved manner, as by welding or brazing. A cotter pin 43 limits movement of the stub shaft to the left with respect to bearing 4| asviewed in Fig. 9, and the left end of shaft 42 has secured thereto a pinion 45 which is held in mesh with gear 35 as shown in Fig. 8. As the take-up rotates the pinion and therefore core 32 will be driven in a clockwise directionas viewed in Fig. 8.

The flexible shaft 30 extends to the right from the stub shaft 42 and may be secured as at 46 to a fixed part of the loom, such as the breast beam, and then extends through the magazine M. The transferrer arm 21 which comes into action at the time of a replenishing operation extends through an opening 48, see Fig. 14, formed in the innerv plate or end frame 49 of the magazine M. The flexible shaft passes through this opening 48 and is held out of interfering position with respect to the transferrer arm by means of a supporting wire 50 which is supported by screws 5|, tapped into the end frame 49. The shaft 30 extends as shown in Fig. 2 between the front and back pairs of bobbin stacks and may then extend along a support arm 52, see Figs. 1, 2 and 15. As shown in Fig. 15 the arm 52 is held to the outer plate or end frame 53 of the magazine by means of a screw 54 and has upwardly extending fingers 52' which guide the flexible shaft 30 as the latter. extends to the thread holder for attachment to geared member l5.

The casing or support I! of the thread holder has a vertical outside wall 55 and front, back, top and bottom walls 56, and a guard plate 51 is secured as at 58 to the front and back walls. As shown more particularly in Fig. 4, the front geared member I5 is clamped by a nut 60 on a shaft 6| against a flange B2 integral with the shaft. The shaft is rotatable in a bearing 63 formed as part ofthe outside wall 55 and projects to the left beyond said bearing as suggested in Figs. 4 and 6. The shaft 6| has the end thereof split as at 65 and is provided with a tapered thread 66 for a similarly tapped nut 61. Extending through the slotted part of the shaft 6| is a hole 68 which receives the core 32 of the flexible shaft, see Fig. 6. When the nut 61 is set tightly split end thereof to clamp the left split end of the shaft firmly against the core 32 for the purpose of establishing a driving connection between these two parts.

In order to provide support for the sheath 3| of the flexible shaft I provide the construction shown in Figs. 4 and '5. A fitting 10 has a base 1| secured at 12 to the removable plate 57 and on shaft 6| it compresses the essence isgprovidedwith a bearing. 13 formed-in part by two upwardly extending arms 14 through which extends a bolt 15 having a nut 16 on one end thereof. When the bolt is loose the fitting m and the plate '51 can be slid along the shaft 30, butwhen bolt 15 is tightened and the bearing arms PM have been clamped against the shield 32 the latter is supported. on plate 5.1 in such position thatv the flexible, shaft can lead directly I the latter and subjected to a tension which takes up any slackness due to rotation of the bobbins ontheir axes as they await transfer. This rotation of the gears land it continues uniformly during loom operation, but at a rate slow enough so that no undesired abrasion of the weft ends results. When a replenishing operation of the loom occurs the elected bobbin will be inserted into the shuttle S and its weft end will be held by the thread holder as the shuttle is picked to the opposite end of the loom. All the bobbins located above the selected bobbin will drop in their stack and a slight amount of slackness will occur in the corresponding weft ends. This slackness, however, will be taken up by the turning gears l5 and I6 and in a short period of time the weft ends will again be taut. During the short interval of slacknesszhowever, the threads will still be located above the path of the :lay so. that the latter will not interfere with or break the weft ends.

V In Figs. 10 and 12 I show two types of fabric F and F2, respectively, which can be wovenin the loom, Fig. 10 showing horizontal. lines representing'coarse weft while Fig. 12 shows that fabric F2. is woven with finer weft. Fig. 11 shows bobbin BC having coarse weft used in fabric F, while Fig. 13 shows a bobbin BF having fine weft used in fabric F2. Fabric F may have 20 picks per inch, for instance. while fabricF2 may have 6.0 weft. threads per .inch. When the fabric shown in Fig. 10 is being woven the take-up roll will be driven at a relatively fast rate of speed and it, will be obvious because of the coarseness of the weft. that the loom willhave frequent replenishing operations involving bobbins similar to bob bin BC, but when the fabric shown in Fig. 12 is being woven the driving mechanism for the takeup roll will be set so that the latter will turn at aslow rate, and there will be fewer replenishing operations of the loom involving bobbins such as BF. It is thus apparent that the rate at which the take-up roll 20 turns in the loom is closely related to the number of replenishing. operations of the loom, and it will further be apparent that the gears '15 and 126 turn at a faster rate when the replenishing operations are frequent than is the case when said operations are less frequent. The thread holder is thus driven continuously during loom operation but at a rate closely proportioned to the "rate at which slackness occurs'in the weft ends due to replenishing operations.

It may not always be desirable to operate'the through the loom.

thread holder by the gear 35, and it is to provide a change gear mechanism between the takeup roll and thread holder that I have pivoted the carrier 31.. If it should be necessary to drive the thread holder at a faster rate, for instance,

carrier 3'! can be swung to: the dotted line posi' tion hown in Fig. 8 and a second gear 35cc used to replace gear 35. Thecarrier arm will be fastened in position with the pinion in mesh with the new gear, after which the mechanism will operate as already described except that the thread gears l5 and i6 will turn at a faster rate than would be the case if the gear 35 were used.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided thread holder mechanism operating continuously during operation of a weft replenishing loom and so constructed that it operates at a rate more or less proportional to the rate at which replenishing operations occur in the loom. It will further be seen. that this result is accomplished by a connection between the takeup roll and the geared members 5 5 and [6. The take-up roll moves at substantially the same rate as does the fabric and the roll may be considered as a means the rate of turning of which is determined by the rat at which the cloth moves change gear mechanism is provided and that gear 35 can if desired be replaced by another gear of different size so that the ratio of drive between the take-up roll and pinion may be varied. It will also be noted that the flexible shaft extends through the magazine and is supported thereby in such position as not to inter,- fere with the transferrer arm or descent of the reserve bobbins in their respective stacks. Furthermore, the slackness of the weft ends incident to rolling of the bobbins in the magazine is taken updue to the continuous operation of gears I 5 and I6.

Having thus described my invention it will be seen that changes and modifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and'I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, but what I claim is:

1. In thread holder mechanism for a weft replen'ishing loom having reserve bobbins from which weft ends extend, meshing geared members between which said weft ends extend, a take-up roll which turns during loom operation, and driving connections between said take-up roll and one of said geared members effective to turn the latter to tension said weft ends as the take-up roll turns.

2. In thread holder mechanism fora weft replenishing loom having reserve bobbins from which weft ends extend, meshing geared members between which said weft ends extend, a take-up roll which turns during loom operation, and driving connections between said take-up roll and one of said geared members operative as said take-up roll turns to cause said geared members to turn in a direction to draw said weft ends away from said bobbins.

3. In thread holder mechanism for a weft replenishing loom having reserve bobbins from which weft ends extend, meshing geared members between which said weft ends extend, a take-up roll which turns during loom operation, a flexible shaft having one end operatively connected to one of said geared members and having the other end operatively connected to said take-up roll. and

. effective due' to rotationof said take-up roll to It will also be seen that cause said geared member to turn and tension said weft ends.

In thread holder mechanism for a weft replenishing loom having a magazine supplied with reserve bobbins from which weft ends extend, meshing geared members located on one side of said magazine and between which the weft ends extend, a take-up roll turning during loom operation and located on the other side of said magazine, and a flexible shaft extending through and supported on said magazine and operatively connected at one end thereof to one of said geared members and operatively connected at the other end thereof to said take-up roll, said flexible shaft operative when the take-up roll is turning to cause said geared members to turn and tension said weft ends.

In thread holder mechanism for a Weft replenishing loqm having weft ends extending therefrom, meshing geared members between which said weft ends extend, a take-up roll which turns during loom operation, driving means connected to one of said geared members, and change gear mechanism operativel connecting the takeup roll and said driving means and causing the latter to turn the geared members to tension said Weft ends when the take-up roll turns.

6. In thread holder mechanism for a weft replenishing loom having reserve bobbins from which weft ends extend, meshing geared members between which said weft ends extend, a take-up roll which turns during loom operation, a gear secured to,and turning with said take-up roll, a pinion meshing with said gear and rotatably mounted on the loom, and driving connections between said pinion and one of said geared members operative during loom operation to turn said geared members by a force derived from the take-up roll and in a direction to tension said weft ends.

7. In thread holder mechanism for a Weft replenishing loom having reserve bobbins from which weft ends extend, meshing geared members between which said weft ends extend, a takeup roll which turns during loom operation, a gear secured to and turning with said take-up roll, a pinion for said gear, a carrier on which said pinion is rotatably mounted, a pivot on the loom for said carrier, means cooperating with said pivot to hold the carrier in fixed position on the loom with the pinion meshing with the gear, and driving connection between the pinion and one of said geared members operative to turn the latter to tension said weft ends as the take-up roll turns.

8. In thread holder mechanism for a weft replenishing loom having reserve bobbins from which weft ends extend, meshing geared members between which said weft ends extend, the fabric being woven in the loom moving therethrough at a given rate, means engaging the fabric and moving at substantially said given rate, and a train of driving connections between said means and one of said geared members causported on said end frames.

ing the latter to move to tension said weft ends as said means moves.

9. In a weft replenishing loom having a magazine provided with two pairs of vertically arranged stacks of reserve bobbins from which weft ends extend, a take-up roll on one side of said magazine, thread holder mechanism for said weft ends on the other side of said magazine,

and a train of mechanism operatively connecting,

said take-up roll and thread holder mechanism 11. In a Weft replenishing loom provided with a magazine having an end frame provided with an opening for a transferrer arm and having reserve bobbins from which weft ends extend, a take-up roll on one side of said magazine, thread holder mechanism on the other side of said magazine, and a train of mechanism operatively connecting said take-up roll and thread.

holder mechanism and including a flexible shaft passing through said opening and supported on said end frame out of engagement with said transferrer arm.

12. In a weft replenishing loom having a magazine for reserve bobbins from which Weft ends extend, the loom having a lay reciprocating below said magazine, thread holder mechanism for said weft ends, a flexible shaft extending from the magazine above said lay and operatively connected to said thread holder mechanism, and means on said magazine above the lay supporting said flexible shaft above and out of engagement with the lay.

13. In a weft replenishing loom having a stack of reserve bobbins from which weft ends extend, slackness in said weft ends being due to two factors one of which results from rotation of the bobbins on their axes during loom operation and the other factor resulting from descent of the bobbins in said stack incident to weft replenish ing operations of the loom, thread holder mechanism which when operated takes up said slackness in the weft ends, and means operating said thread holder mechanism continuously during loom operation to take up the slackness in the Weft ends due to the first of said factors and said means also operating said thread holder mechanism to take up slackness in said weft ends due to said other factor at a rate which is faster when the fabric being woven has coarse weft requiring frequent replenishing operations than when the fabric being woven has fine weft requiring less frequent replenishing operations.

14. In thread holder mechanism for a weft replenishing loom from which weft ends extend and having a take-up roll the rate of turning of which varies with the frequency with which replenishing operations occur in the loom, said take-up roll turning at one rate when said replenishing operations are frequent and turning at a slower rate when said replenishing operations are less frequent, meshing geared mem-' bers between which the weft ends extend, said members being rotatable to tension the weft ends, and driving connections between said take-up roll and one of said geared members operative to turn the latter to tension said weft ends as the take-up roll turns, said driving connections causing said geared members to turn faster when the take-up roll is turning at said one rate than when said take-up roll is turning at said slower rate.

WALTER H. WAKEFIELD. 

